Tag Archives: redistricting

Constable Abercia to step down

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I wish him well. Longtime Harris County Constable Jack Abercia, citing health concerns, said Wednesday he will not seek re-election next year. Abercia, 78, has served as Precinct 1 Constable since 1991, when he was appointed to fill the unexpired … Continue reading →

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DOJ files amicus brief in favor of interim maps

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Michael Li: The Justice Department is not a party to the San Antonio case and, until now, it hasn’t been involved in the interim map appeal before the Supreme Court. However, given the possible impact that a Supreme Court ruling … Continue reading →

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D.C. panel issues decision defining preclearance standards

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From Michael Li: Late Thursday evening, the D.C. panel issued its long-awaited opinion defining the standards for preclearance under section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and further explaining why the court had earlier rejected the State of Texas’ request … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS redistricting briefs

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Opening briefs for the SCOTUS hearing on Texas redistricting were filed yesterday – you can see them here. The State of Texas is going long – Michael Li explains. The State of Texas asks the Supreme Court to let the … Continue reading →

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When is a filing deadline not a filing deadline?

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Answer: When there will be another filing period after the filing deadline, as will be the case in Texas, according to the Secretary of State. “Based on the federal court’s order handed down December 16, candidates will be permitted to … Continue reading →

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Sanchez ends his Senate campaign

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This news broke late Friday. Leading Democratic U.S. senatorial candidate Ricardo Sanchez announced Friday that he’s ending his campaign to replace retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. In a statement issued by his campaign to supporters, Sanchez said anemic fundraising and … Continue reading →

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Austin rethinking its May election

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Yeah, maybe that wasn’t the best decision. Austin City Council members are again discussing whether to move the May council election back six months a politically fraught question that led city officials to trade thinly veiled insults earlier this year. … Continue reading →

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We have a deal on a unified primary date

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From the Inbox: Joint Statement from TDP and RPT on Agreement Regarding 2012 General Primary Election Parties have submitted a joint agreed proposal to the San Antonio federal panel. Today, the Texas Democratic Party (TDP) and the Republican Party of Texas … Continue reading →

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The filings keep coming

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Prior to the SCOTUS stay, yesterday was the filing deadline for the 2012 primaries. That has now been pushed back to Monday, with the likelihood of another window after we get some kind of ruling about what the maps will … Continue reading →

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The split primary blues

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Republicans have them. Republican lawmakers turned up the heat on the Texas GOP leadership Wednesday, asking them to keep Texas’ primaries on a single election day while their own party continues to push for two primaries, one in March and … Continue reading →

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DC court sets date for preclearance trial, primary dates still up in the air

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Via email from the Lone Star Project: [Monday], a three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Federal District Court set January 17, 2012 through January 26, 2012 as the trial dates to formally review the Congressional, State House and State … Continue reading →

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How do we know it was a challenge from the left?

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I find this story about the primary challenge that may or may not be between Rep. Lloyd Doggett and State Rep. Joaquin Castro to be frustrating because it makes a huge assumption that it never bothers to verify. Longtime Austin … Continue reading →

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Wentworth touts his redistricting commission

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

State Sen. Jeff Wentworth takes to the op-ed pages to tout again his bipartisan redistricting committee bill, the merits of which I daresay look a little clearer now given recent events. Last June, during the special legislative session, a bill … Continue reading →

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That’s logistics

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Michael Li, on why many an elections administrator likely spent the weekend pulling out their hair: The March 6 primary also remains in place for now, but adjustments are virtually certain- even if the Supreme Court rules quickly after the … Continue reading →

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Who will be the Lege education expert post-Hochberg?

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

In writing a political obituary for State Rep. Scott Hochberg, who announced his retirement from the House last week, Abby Rapoport spends a paragraph on his purported successor as the go-to education legislator. Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, is clearly … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS issues a stay

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. The Supreme Court, working late on a Friday, agreed to rule on the constitutionality of three redistricting plans for the two houses of the Texas legislature and its 36-member U.S. House of Representatives delegation, and put on hold temporarily … Continue reading →

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Expand the Senate?

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I think there’s a lot of merit to this. From state Sen. Kel Seliger, a member of the smaller-government Republican Party and an architect of the Legislature’s redistricting maps that were nixed by federal judges last week, comes this: Consider … Continue reading →

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African-American State Reps state their map objections

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Black-lawmakers-blast-revised-Texas-voting-maps-2346838.php Contending that African Americans have been an afterthought during the contentious yearlong redistricting process, four Houston lawmakers on Monday voiced their objections to the interim House map a three-judge panel drew recently. “A lot of emphasis over the past … Continue reading →

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Do over!

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This should come as a surprise to no one. Steve Munisteri, chair of the Republican Party of Texas, told party members last week that, if the court-drawn interim maps stand, he would seek to have Republican candidates for the Texas … Continue reading →

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Sizing up the opportunities

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This Chron story about the new Congressional map and who’s looking at what (which ran in the Express News last week) has a lot of things we’ve been discussing, and a couple of things to point out. First, a theme … Continue reading →

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Still waiting on SCOTUS

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Responses to the State of Texas’ stay request for State House and State Senate elections were due Thursday. Responses to the stay request for Congressional elections, which was filed Wednesday, are due this morning. It’s not clear when SCOTUS will … Continue reading →

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Hochberg bows out, Gallego makes it official

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I am totally bummed out by this. The Legislature’s foremost expert on school finance and one of its top public education advocates, state Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, confirmed this afternoon that he won’t seek re-election next year. Hochberg, who took … Continue reading →

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CD35 will still have a contested primary

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It won’t be Doggett versus Castro but it still ought to be interesting. The battle for a newly drawn congressional district will pit two seasoned Democratic politicians against one another: Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Sylvia S. Romo and former U.S. … Continue reading →

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Two more points about redistricting

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

First, go read what Greg has to say about the San Antonio federal court’s logic in drawing the districts that it did. I tried to get at some of this in this post, but he digs in and says it … Continue reading →

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A little perspective about redistricting

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So now we wait for the full Supreme Court’s ruling on AG Abbott’s requests to stay the 2012 elections, which by the way would only apply to the elections affected by the disputed redistricting maps. Other primary elections for things … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS asks for briefs in stay request

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We still have a few more days at least before we get some kind of resolution over the maps we will be using for this election. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop … Continue reading →

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A look ahead to SBOE races

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Regardless of what happens with the other maps, the one map that was precleared and is set for the next decade is the SBOE. With all 15 members up for re-election (like the Senate, everyone has to run in the … Continue reading →

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Filing season opens today

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s supposed to open today, anyway. It may get pushed back a day or two until the remaining legal actions get sorted out. As we know, after being turned down by the San Antonio federal Court, AG Greg Abbott is … Continue reading →

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Galveston County redistricting plan blocked by federal judge

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Seems to be a lot of stories like this these days. A U.S. District Court judge has blocked the county’s redistricting plan for this election cycle because it has not received preclearance from the U.S. Department of Justice. In an … Continue reading →

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Rep. Charlie Gonzalez to retire

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As the story says, it’s the end of an era. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez said Friday he will not seek re-election, a decision that will end the congressional tenure of a Democratic family whose name has been synonymous with the city … Continue reading →

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Going for the stay

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Late Wednesday, AG Greg Abbott requested that the San Antonio court stay its order implementing new maps for Congress, the State House, and the State Senate, exhibiting his usual grace and class in doing so. Not unexpectedly, the San Antonio … Continue reading →

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Pena steps down

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Bye-bye, Aaron. State Rep. Aaron Peña will retire at the end of this term rather than seek re-election under interim political maps for the Texas House of Representatives that stripped him of a district offering the best opportunity for a … Continue reading →

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Minor tweaks to interim county map approved

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Barring anything strange, we should have a final county map for the 2012 election. A federal judge has granted several small changes Harris County requested to an interim redistricting map produced as part of a lawsuit Latino activists filed against … Continue reading →

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Modified House and Senate maps are out

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The federal court in San Antonio has now issued orders that slightly tweaked the State House and State Senate maps; the new plans are H302 and S164, respectively. The modifications are minor and mostly affect a few districts in Harris … Continue reading →

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